The Dark Knight of UA
by DalSlatyr
Summary: After the events of Arkham Knight, Bruce finds himself in a world of heroes and villains. Despite the similarities between his own world and this one, he soon learns that they are very different.
1. Start

Bruce stood quietly in the unknown street, caution washing over his form. A quick glance at some of the street signs and buildings told him he was somewhere in japan, though he didn't recognize the location. As he turned his head to read the signs, he felt something was off. His armor was incredibly loose... and heavy.

Not only was his Bat-suit loose, his detective vision wasn't functioning properly. He tried to connect to the Bat-computer, but there was no signal. Even a quick call to Alfred proved impossible. Just where was he? Bruce weighed his options and ultimately decided to explore this place.

Stepping into an alley way, Bruce slipped free from the Bat-suit after confirming that he wasn't being watched. The soft material of the under suit normally clung tightly to his skin, yet it too was slightly loose. His body was smaller than normal. Looking down at his hands, they too were also smaller in size, like how they were in his teen years. Bruce frowned. He had to find out what was going on.

Bruce lifted the Bat-suit up, despite it being heavier than normal, he was still in rather great condition for his size. Removing the cape, he wrapped it around the chest of the Bat-suit and tied it over his shoulder.

'I can't just go exploring with the Bat-suit.' Bruce thought to himself as he glanced around the place for somewhere to hide it. A fire escape on the building to his left gave him an idea.

Backing up against the building behind him, Bruce ran toward the wall with he fire escape. If anyone were watching, they would think he were a madman for dashing straight at a brick wall. Shifting his weight back, but not too far as he still had the weight of the Bat-suit to accommodate for, Bruce ran up the wall and latched onto the fire escape.

Pulling himself over, Bruce set foot on the metal grate of the fire escape. Looking up, he saw numerous sets of stairs. Lugging the extra weight over several sets of stairs would be a taxing process for a normal teenager, but Bruce was rather fit in his teen years and the roof wasn't that high up. Making it to the highest platform, Bruce looked up to the roof. Fire escapes are designed so that residents can go down a building, Which meant that they don't exactly lead to the rooftops all of the time. He was just glad that the highest floor was a residential area. 'It's just short of the roof. If I use the handrail as a launch point, I can climb up to the top of the building.'

Jumping forward, Bruce placed his foot on the railing. His leg bent as he fell slightly, only to straighten out again once he jumped. The small stature of his body allowed him to grab the ledge with only two of his fingers. Grunting, Bruce quickly threw his other hand up to the ledge as he straightened out the other. Placing his feet on the wall below, Bruce pushed with his feet and pulled with his arms, causing his body to fly over the ledge and onto the rooftop.

As far as he was concerned, this rooftop wasn't meant to be used as there was nothing on it beside some gravel. Moving to the corner of the rooftop, Bruce placed the Bat-suit down and threw his cape over it. Thankfully, there was a dip in the roof which cause the ledge to hide anything anything a several inches tall. Any onlookers below would see nothing, and if anyone were level with the rooftop, all they'd see is a small mound. It wasn't the best spot, but it would have to do for now.

Bruce walked over to the ledge. Kneeling down, he looked over the sunset dyed city. 'This is definitely Japan, but I don't recognize the location.' As curious as he was about his location, another question was just as important. 'How did I get here?' The possibility of it being one of Gotham's villains wasn't likely due to the fact that they were all locked away in maximum security prison cells. None of his enemies even had the ability to instantly send him to another location, nor did anyone he knew have the ability to regress someone's age.

Deciding on his objective, Bruce grabbed the gauntlet and glove from his Bat-suit as well as a few gadgets from his utility belt.

Quickly making his way down from the rooftop, Bruce began his expedition through the streets. One thing that he noticed almost immediately was that every street sign he saw had a weird name, most of them weren't even actual Japanese words. After reading several signs, building names and news reports, Bruce could confirm that he was in a city called 'Mustafu'. As far as he was concerned, Mustafu wasn't even a real place. And for Batman himself to never hear of this city said a lot.

As he walked, Bruce thought more and more about his predicament. Detective vision wasn't functional, he wasn't able to connect to the Bat-computer nor could he contact Alfred. All of that combined with the fact that he was in an unknown location. 'Either I breathed in too much of Scarecrow's toxin, or something bigger is going on.' Whatever is was, the truth of the matter was that Bruce lacked the resources to investigate, so he kept walking, trying to find out more about this city.

During his trek, Bruce received many stares from the residents of the city. The main reason was because he was wearing what appeared to be a loose fitting black onesie. The other reason was because he's a foreigner and looked out of place here. He didn't care though, he was more enticed by the technology he found on the buildings and street sides. It wasn't anything too special, but it was rather advanced and clean for a modern city.

All things considered, Bruce did all he could outside, what he needed to do was real research. Turning into another alley way, Bruce pulled up his gauntlet. A holographic screen appeared, showing a web browser on the display. 'The building over there has Wi-Fi. Good.' Normally he'd establish a direct connection with the Bat computer, but seeing as that wasn't possible, Bruce had to make do with this.

'Quirks?' Bruce thought to himself. 'This is going to be a problem.'

Bruce lowered his gauntlet. The terrified shriek of a woman coming from around the corner of the alley way had him on alert. Turning his back to the street, Bruce ran further into the darkness ahead, turning the corner once he made it all the way.

"Just hand it over, lady!"

"We'll make this quick, so just hurry up!"

After the turn, Bruce dashed behind a dumpster to his right. 'Four men, two armed. Their backs are all turned, they won't notice me sneaking up on them.' Something was off about one of those men. He appeared to have a rather realistic wolf mask over his head, yet no one else was wearing masks. There was a possibility of it relating to the 'Quirks' he read about, but he didn't have enough time to read up on it to confirm this hypothesis.

Analyzing the situation, Bruce planned his next moves. 'The two in the back have knives, I can take both of them down but it'll alert the two up front.'

Staying low, Bruce swiftly snuck up behind the two men in the back. Standing to full height, which was taller than average for his age, Bruce reached out, grabbing their heads and pulling them together with force strong enough to knock them out. He had to use more force than usual to accommodate for his size.

The sound of a crack and limp bodies falling to the ground had alerted the men ahead, but Bruce was already on the move. Throwing a Batarang at the man furthest from himself, Bruce lunged a the other, knocking him off balance. As soon as the man hit the ground, the other recovered from the Batarang stun just in time for Bruce's hand to hit his face.

Once he fell down from the impact, Bruce turned his attention back to the other man he knocked down earlier. Walking over to the thug, Bruce grabbed him by the neck, positioning him before punching him in the face. The punch caused his head to hit the concrete immediately after and the force shook his brain, causing him to go unconscious.

The other man had gotten up by then and charged at Bruce only to be met with ready fists. A three hit combination had been more than enough to deal with the last thug.

Crouching down, Bruce reached for the item on the ground, the purse the men had tried to steal from the woman. "Are you hurt?" Bruce asked.

The woman shook her head. Her face lighting up immediately after she grasped the purse in her hand. "Are you a hero?! You were so fast!" Blinking a few times, the woman's face changed from a worried expression to a curious and excited one. "No, you're too young... Maybe a sidekick?!" Bruce had apparently looked older than fifteen to her, but it wasn't exactly something he'd correct her on.

Hero? Sidekick? Bruce really had to finish up on his reading, because this world was starting to sound like a strange one. "The police should be here soon." He said, ignoring her questions as he turned to the street.

The woman was about to call out to him, but ultimately decided to wait for the police.

As he walked, Bruce felt eyes on him. He had noticed the stalker during his fight and decided to lure him to a quiet place. Since alley ways were popular today, Bruce turned and walked into another one, stopping once he made it halfway through.

"Come out." Bruce spoke just loud enough for the person tailing him to hear.

A figure fell from above, landing on the ground in front of Bruce. A second after, he stood to full height, revealing his full appearance. A pale faced man with ragged long black hair and a small amount of facial hair stood at six feet tall. Bandages wrapped around his neck, draping over a black shirt like a scarf. His utility belt held over a pair of matching dark, baggy black pants. His matching black shoes told Bruce that this man had a thing for the color black.

"You performed an illegal act of vigilantism," He began with a tired and uncaring voice. "You're coming with me."

* * *

The man had taken Bruce to a police station for questioning. Apparently, he was a pro hero named 'Eraser Head' who was on patrol and noticed Bruce looking rather suspicious and began tailing him. Once the mugging had began, he originally planned to stop it himself, but Bruce was too fast and didn't leave him with enough time to intervene.

Normally, the pro hero would have jumped in sooner, but he had hoped that he could follow the vigilante to find a base of operation. Apparently there was an up-rise of vigilantes and the police were getting desperate to find and stop them.

Naturally, Bruce was taken to an interrogation room to be questioned. Perhaps they hoped that he was part of a larger group of vigilantes and could provide some information.

"So, you're a traveler?" The detective asked.

"Orphan." Bruce replied.

The Detective's face darkened, not an obvious gesture, but one that didn't go unnoticed by Bruce. "And how did you get here all the way from America?"

"My parents moved here before they died." He lied about that part. Bruce had no choice but to play it safe for now.

The detective pondered Bruce's words before scribbling in his notepad. "You know, for an American, your Japanese is pretty good."

"My Karate instructor was very adamant that I became fluent." Another lie, but it explained both his hand to hand combat skills as well as his ability to speak Japanese.

"About that," The detective began. "Eraser Head is an expert in close quarters combat. He watched you taking down those men and couldn't help but recognize several techniques used by you throughout that fight. Your form was even a unique one. Would you mind explaining why a young teen such as yourself would have such skill?"

"I was planning on becoming a hero eventually. So I trained to prepare myself." Bruce was treading dangerous waters now. He simply lacked enough information to create accurate lies. He didn't know the system or laws of this society, he was a blind man walking through a mine field at this point.

The detective sighed. "Then you should have at least waited for a pro to come and handle the situation, or call the police."

Bruce shook his head. "She didn't have that kind of time."

The detective stared at Bruce with wide eyes for a few moments. Blinking, he regained composure. "You could get into real trouble if you keep this up, though I'm sure you knew that." The detective stood up. "Due to the nature of your situation, I'm obligated to let you off with a warning."

The detective gestured for Bruce to stand up as well. Gathering the blank papers on the table, the detective stood at the door, stopping before his hand could reach the handle. "You said you wanted to become a hero, right?" Seeing Bruce nod, he continued. "Which school were you planning on attending?" He asked.

"I wasn't sure. I never did the research." Bruce replied.

The detective pondered for a while. "My friend is teaching at a prominent hero school and the entrance exam is coming up soon. If you're interested, the school is called 'U.A.' academy... anyway, I just thought you'd like to know."

The detective opened the door, ready to walk out. He nearly collided with Bruce when he stopped abruptly and turned around. "This is actually quite unprofessional of me, but I forgot to ask. What's your name?"

Bruce stood silent in contemplation, almost appearing to forget the answer to such a simple question. Scarecrow had already revealed his greatest secret to the entire world, he had no reason to conceal it any more... but these people didn't know who Bruce Wayne or the Batman was. If he were truly in an alternate dimension, he shouldn't take the same name as a precaution.

After a few moments of silence, Bruce looked the detective in the eye. Reaching out to shake his hand, Bruce spoke.

"Thomas."

* * *

 **Yeah, I know what some of you following me are thinking. "Dal, get back to Earthland's Hero of Justice!"**

 **No!... I mean, not no as in I'm not writing it, I'm still writing it. What I meant was, "No! stop thinking that specific sentence!" Because I'm already working on it. The reason why I was gone for two months was due to a chain of unfortunate events that happened one after another. But don't worry, it got better. Because immediately after, a chain of fortunate events happened.**

 **First I got sick and really, really bored. Then the laptop I use for writing and posting had a problem so I couldn't write for that entire month. The other unfortunate events are rather blurry and I can't remember them.**

 **Then this is where the Fortunate events happened. Fortuna came out and I rode a K-Drive for an hour before getting bored and logging off. Then I raised my accuracy as Hanzo. Then I got a PS4 and played Spider-Man... You get the idea, I technically went on vacation after the first month.**

 **And there was no Arkham Knight category, so don't get me on that.**

 **Oh well... I'll be working on Earthland's Hero of Justice for the next few days. This was just a side project that I work on when I'm not busy with the main story.**

 **Remember to always wipe the toilet seat and to wash your hands before every meal.**

 **-Dal**


	2. A New Plan Forms

**Sorry for this...**

* * *

Bruce had been walking down the street for over an hour.

He had managed to convince the police that he lived in an orphanage somewhere and could get by on his own. However, the fact that he did not live anywhere became painstakingly obvious once he left the building.

Not that it really bothered him, he had a plan for this after all. Working his way up from the bottom would actually be the easiest part of his life. The hard part would be the current world hero situation.

People with special abilities referred to as 'Quirks', had the option to become a hero legally through special schooling. Though there was nothing preventing quirk-less people from trying, Bruce had no desire to actually follow this path. But when met with the other option, 'Vigilantism', the first was more appealing.

Bruce could pull off either, but the problem with the second is that both 'heroes' and 'villains' were your enemy. Bruce would have too much to deal with, a hindrance to his duties as Batman.

The problem with the legal path was that it took far too long to graduate and get a license, an even larger hindrance. The difference between the cons of both paths was that this one would be temporary and the other was permanent.

To others, this would be a complicated dilemma. Deciding which option to choose would take up the very minutes of their days. But to Bruce, the solution here was clear.

 _Do both._

* * *

Phillip stood over the open hood of the limousine. Sighing, he stepped back. "Agh!" His screams of frustration echoed through the empty room and faded out the open garage door. "I don't even see what's wrong with it!" Kicking over a small empty can of soda, he sat down on an empty bucket and leaned his face down into his opened palms.

He sighed once more, wondering why he was even here.

"A problem with the brakes?"

Phillip raised his head at the unfamiliar voice.

A tall young man in a loose fitting black and grey body-suit stood leaning against the frame of the garage door.

"Who are you?" Phillip asked, standing to full height and stepping back a little, the guy sure was tall.

"Thomas." The guy answered. "I have experience as a mechanic."

Phillip reached back, scratching the back of his neck and smiling nervously. "Ah. Listen, we're really not hir-"

"You were examining the brake fluid reservoir, was it full?"

Phillip stood there taken aback for a moment, only answering when the man's strong gaze pierced through him. "Pretty much." He nodded his head.

Thomas stepped forward, opening the driver seat door.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Phillip ran forward, he couldn't let the guy screw around with a customer's vehicle.

Crouching down, Thomas examined the brake area before standing back up and stepping away. The door closed behind him with a soft thud as he looked back to Phillip.

"The master cylinder is faulty. Don't waste your time trying to repair it, just replace it." Thomas spoke firmly.

Phillip stood still for a moment, wondering how the man managed to identify the issue so easily. "How did you do that?" He asked.

"It's a common issue in vehicles." Thomas replied, grabbing a one of the empty containers and a tube from the rack on the wall. "Use these to siphon out the remaining brake fluid. You can remove the master cylinder afterwards."

Phillip nodded and reached out to grab the container, but the man stopped him before he could.

"After you wash your hands." He said, pulling the container back. "It's not good to have brake cleaner on cracked fingertips."

Phillip nodded and ran back upstairs to do exactly as Thomas had told him. Normally, he wouldn't trust a stranger as much as he did Thomas, but this one was rather nice, right?

* * *

"Phillip! You good for nothing idiot!" Shouted the large bearded man as he stepped into the garage.

"Wait, dad! He's not so bad, he was actually helping out! He's like some pro mechanic or something! He was nice too, so..."

"Boy, would you let someone rob you mid-day if they asked kindly?!" The man lightly slapped the backside of his son's head. "Because that's what's about to happen!"

As they took in the sight of the garage, they both noticed how desolate it truly was. Something that made Phillip slump as he began to consider his father's words. As they made their way closer to the car, he even saw some of the supplies that Thomas used were no longer in their normal place.

"See? This is what happens when you trust people so easily."

"But mom said-"

"That was in a different context, you idiot!"

Turning away from the conversation, the man saw something near the car, or rather behind it.

A tall young man wearing a loose fitting black and dark grey body-suit stood to full height, holding onto a wrench.

"Hey! You, get-!"

"The repairs are finished, the limo had more issues than you thought." The young man spoke.

"Thanks, Thomas!" Phillip shouted, grateful to find that he hadn't run away with his father's tools. He stepped in closer and looked under the hood once again, examining the master cylinder again.

"You were gone for longer than I thought, so I already removed the master cylinder. You can take care of replacing it."

Phillip's father stepped in closer, scanning the vehicle all over and closely taking in all of the details. It would be a bad thing if he had tampered with the vehicle of such a valuable customer. Strangely enough, he found nothing. The repairs he had made were just 'repairs' and nothing more.

"Some of these problems weren't even listed by the customer... Just what is your intention here, boy?"

The young man looked to the shop owner. "It just needed repairs is all."

"And so you fixed it up despite not being an employee?" The bearded man quirked a brow.

The young stranger did the same, but the notion held a different meaning, one that the shop owner caught.

"You're hoping I'll hire you after this, aren't you?"

The young dark-clad man smirked.

"We some more appointments today, let me look over your work every time you finish. I'll be upstairs." The man walked back up the stairs, only turning back to look at the stranger. "Never caught your name, boy."

"Thomas." He answered.

"Mine's Henry." After he finished introducing himself, he stepped back up the stairs. "And don't let Phillip get in your way! He isn't exactly good at his job!"

"Dad!" Phillip shouted at the retreating figure of his father. "Sorry about him, Thomas. He might seem pretty rude, but that's just how he acts. No helping it." He shrugged before taking a seat on one of the pails.

"Don't apologize, we have work to do." Thomas beckoned for Phillip to stand and help him out with the car.

"About that..."

"You don't know how to insert the new master cylinder?" Thomas asked, his tone sounding as if he already knew the answer.

Phillip nodded. "I'm not the best mechanic and my dad never really taught me much. I'm only good for minor check-ups and stuff, he's the one who does the actual work."

Thomas pulled out the replacement part from a clean looking box on a nearby table. Reaching out, he handed it to Phillip.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he took the part.

"You're going to do the installation." Thomas replied.

The boy stared at him wide-eyed. "I can't even handle a screwdriver properly!" He exaggerated.

"Then It's a good thing that you won't be needing one." Thomas remarked. "Let's hurry up, I'll show you how it's done." He said, holding out a properly sized wrench.

"B-but what if I mess up or something?!"

Thomas stared him in the eyes, his gaze firm and unwavering.

"You won't."

* * *

Bruce sat down on the bed. It had been a long, but eventful day. In the end, the grizzled shop owner had decided to hire Bruce. Normally, a person wouldn't be so trusting, but the circumstances were just right.

Not only did he get an abnormally large amount of work done in little time, but he also taught Phillip a great deal about mechanical work. In fact, the only reason the Henry had brought Phillip was because he spoke good Japanese despite being an American. After a while, the work load had piled up on him and he had no choice but to rely on the boy every now and then.

Normally, someone like Phillip would be considered useless before being sidelined. The boy had trouble grasping mechanical work and even his father had more or less given up on him. However, Bruce did not make the same mistake. From experience, he learned that everyone thinks on a different wavelength. Everyone must be taught a certain way in order for them to grasp something. Phillip was a rarity, someone who thought on an uncommon wavelength. However, when Bruce figured out which one it was, he adjusted his teachings accordingly. The boy responded to the teachings through action, action that was more advanced than anything he once thought possible for himself.

Even Henry had been surprised at the boy's improvement. Many of his worries had fallen to rest when saw the customer's limousine in perfect condition. Of course, Bruce had known that Henry was watching through the security cameras spread throughout the room, but he never said anything when he saw the man. Bruce knew that he would be watched closely for the next few weeks, to be expected from the man. Nobody would be this trusting under such circumstances, but Henry was in desperate need for help. Being overworked and stressed out had lowered his rationality, seeing a cheat like Bruce walk in and fix everything had only bettered the situations of both parties.

Then, the day finally ended with Bruce bidding his farewell and leaving the shop. After which, he used his gauntlet's mini computer to search for nearby homeless shelters. Surprisingly, most people in Mustafu were well off. Having found only a few close by, Bruce picked the closest and checked in.

Surprisingly, this homeless shelter was mostly empty and Bruce got his own room. Of course, this wasn't planned, but it helped out a lot. Having privacy to perform his less than legal actions was essential to his plan.

He had to make money in order to carry out the plan though, but that would be easy. Time consuming, but easy. For now, he had to wait, gain trust and standing with the mechanic shop before the next step. All the while training his body and honing his skills, mental and physical.

Standing from the bed, Bruce knelt down on the floor. Removing the shirt of his body suit and tossing it onto the bed, he reached down and touched the floor with the palm of his hands. After establishing balance, he flipped himself over. His form maintained a practiced appearance as he extended his arms, raising and lowering his body slowly and steadily as he did push-ups upside down.

He made sure to take his younger body into account, he made sure not to push it. After finishing the push-ups, he followed up with another exercise... and another... and another. After an hour and a half when his body was coated in sweat, he decided to stop.

Glancing out the window, he saw nothing but darkness.

 _Perfect_

After washing up, Bruce put his shirt back on. Stepping over to the window, he opened it and jumped out into the night. He left something out in the city, something especially important.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Unfortunately, this chapter is short** (And sucky) **, as are all of my first few chapters** (And chapters in general) **. Ignore the OCs, they don't stick around for long, they're just plot devices** (I'm sure you could tell) **.**

 **Things kick off around chapter four or five, can't remember. Don't get hyped, i'm lazy so there's no point.**

 **Next update: Earthland's Hero of Justice / ?(NEW PROJECT)? / The Dark Knight of U.A. / The Complicated Family Tree of Arturia Pendragon\ Cycle repeats until the stories ends.**

 **Until next time... heh... Y'know, I'm feeling just a little bit tired...**


	3. Encounter

"It's been this way for weeks, Wayne-kun." The woman said.

"Is it going to be a problem?" Bruce asked.

The woman sighed, closing her eyes in rest as she rubbed the back of her head. "No..." She said, opening her eyes to look at Bruce with a newfound smile on her face. "You already do a lot for this place, I guess it doesn't matter how you spend your free time."

Bruce nodded. "I'll try to get some sunlight every once in a while." He lied.

The caretaker nodded, returning the smile that the young man sent her. "Alright then, I'll leave you be then." She turned, reaching out to close the door. "Ah, Sato-kun dropped off another cake. Be sure to have some this time."

"Reina." Bruce called out, causing the woman to stop in place. "Call me 'Bruce'. No need for honorifics either."

Reina smiled, continuing her previous action and exiting Bruce's room. Hopefully, she would do exactly as he asked, 'Wayne-kun' had an odd ring to it that Bruce didn't much care for.

Uncrossing his legs, Bruce pushed off the ground and walked over to the small table at the corner of his room. Reaching out, he grasped the blanket he draped over his project and pulled it away.

It was a mess of parts and scrap metal, wires strewn about, centering in on the clunk of metal in the middle of the table. It was mostly done, all it needed was a bit of polishing and it would be ready. It didn't need to look good, it was just a prototype after all.

It would be at least a week before he could put the finishing touches on it, but his plan was carrying out well.

After doing research on this world, he had determined that Bruce Wayne did not exist. Not in Japan, not anywhere, not ever. Which also meant that anyone he knew most likely never existed as well. If that were the case...

Not only could he now use his first name, he could also act more freely without any concern for collateral damage. U.A.'s protocol meant that his identity wouldn't truly be secret and being a hero legally was suddenly less favorable. However, after everything he had been through, he had given up on being Bruce Wayne.

No, it would be more accurate to say that Bruce Wayne had died in that alley way with his parents. Batman was born in Park Row, and since then, 'Bruce Wayne' was his secret identity.

Ever since the battle against Scarecrow, he had decided to dedicate his entire life to being Batman. Having no one he was close to would make that easier. Secret identity or not, Batman would still be able to hunt down criminals with little to no concern.

It didn't matter whether or not he was far from home and it didn't matter that the Gotham City he knew didn't exist anymore. It was a matter of doing what was right.

Here, on another earth, The Dark Knight was very much his own entity.

It was decided. Batman would enroll into U.A. and shortly after, he would disappear into the night once again. In the mean time, when he needed to get something done, another hero would have to take his place.

Another identity.

* * *

"You've been going home early lately, Thomas." Phillip said, looking up from the tool catalog he had been reading.

"I've been keeping myself busy." Bruce replied.

"I guess that's good. I never was a hard worker myself."

Bruce smirked slightly. "That'll change soon. Now that you're an able mechanic, your shop will be getting more work, especially since you now have a wealthy regular. Word will get out soon, you should use what quiet time you have left to prepare."

Phillip raised the catalog over his face, leaning back in his chair as he kicked his legs up in down rapidly. "Ah! I just wanna relax for once, Tommy!"

"That's not a great attitude to have. Hard work is good for you."

Phillip sighed, removing the catalog from his face to stare at Bruce in disbelief. "What the heck, man? Sometimes you scare me with how much of an old person you sound like."

"If it bothers you that much, just hire a few employees in Autumn." Bruce suggested.

"Why in the Fall?" Phillip asked. "Can't we just do that now?"

Bruce shook his head. "Your father is planning an expansion for the garage. As of now, it's not necessary to have anyone more than the three of us. After the expansion, you won't be left with much money until later this year." Hanging his work hat up on the rack, Bruce turned around and smirked again. "On the bright side, it gives you enough time to get into the proper working mindset."

Walking out of the open door, Bruce could hear Phillip's pained cries.

Enough time had passed and Bruce made enough money to live more closer to his original life style. Not in the sense that he was a step closer to being Batman again, but it was still important nonetheless. One of the most important variables in training his body was his diet.

One of the things he had learned early on in his life was that exercise was 20% and diet was the remaining 80%. It was because of that, he remained on a strict diet, abstaining from unhealthy foods and alcoholic beverages, only occasionally consuming certain less than optimal foods.

At the homeless shelter, he had been considered a picky eater due to the fact that he only ate the more healthy foods, but even what he ate there wasn't the best kind of diet. Luckily, he had a job now and a steady income, which was about to get larger.

At the moment, his target destination was the convenience store a few blocks away. They didn't have any real quality food there, but he didn't necessarily have the funds to shop anywhere else.

During his walk, several figures stuck out like sore thumbs, their numbers increasing in quantity as he reached further down the street.

Those figures were ' _heroes_ '.

To many, they were a dream come to life, comic book heroes brought to reality. To Bruce, the special title and lofty costumes gave away to reality. Here, being a hero was a profession, organized and controlled by the government. Anyone with a decent quirk could become a hero, but because of that, the chances of finding a ' _hero_ ' who was truly a hero would be cut in half.

Then again, it wasn't anything new to Bruce. There were many back in his world who he'd never consider to be true heroes. But as long as they did their job and saved people, stayed away from trouble and out of his way, he was fine with them.

All thoughts aside, it was strange to see so many costumed people in public. The sheer density of the hero population was troubling to him, especially since a little under a third of them were missing right now.

And by 'missing', he meant that heroes work in shifts. Around three shifts with random heroes working the weaker gaps between the shifts. It's not like they had a system like this in place, but most heroes, if not commissioned to work the night shift for a specific reason, actually chose to work at night, as it was the time that most crime happened.

One hero in particular was standing at the store entrance, staring at Bruce as he walked in, her blonde head tilted in thought.

Mt. Lady A.K.A. 'Takeyama Yu', a twenty two year old pro hero who lucked out at birth, receiving a gigantification quirk allowed her be a hero while also making it easier to be lazy, it also matched her love for attention. Her quirk was a double edged sword however, as she could not reach small places and alley ways which criminals would most likely be hiding in.

But something that Bruce had learned about the heroes here was that they do their best to cover up their weaknesses, which meant that she was probably trained in some form of hand-to-hand combat to a passable extent as many heroes were. She was certainly concealing a few gadgets which she could rely on in her smaller form if necessary, but so far, she never used them.

At the very least, she worked hard as a hero when she needed to. Not right now, however. Right now, she was on a break and decided to use that time to buy some frozen treats. Or technically, at the moment, she was staring at Bruce, her reasons not remaining a mystery to him.

It wasn't because of his appearance, it was out of confusion. She was trying to discern his age, something that was usually an enigma to foreigners. Being tall, muscular and American with his specific features left him looking unlike most fifteen year olds, but still pretty young. His blue eyes also attracted attention back then, but those were more common in the age of quirks due to genetic differences.

She almost seemed shocked when he ignored her in favor of the supermarket, being a famous and attractive pro hero at peak fame, she was bothered for autographs and invited to dates regularly.

As Bruce passed her, he heard the ruffling of her costume as she shrugged and walked away.

Inside the store, Bruce could see numerous shelves stocked with brands of food he had never seen before. Not counting the cashier, there were two other employees in the store, and most likely one in the back as well.

This convenience store was much larger than they usually were. It could possibly be only this location or a few others, given how popular this specific store was. However, something told Bruce that humans weren't the only thing that changed here.

Grabbing a basket, he stepped in between two shelves, which were just barely taller than he was. Glancing down, he saw an assortment of the ingredients he was looking for.

Moving between shelves and around the store, Bruce was soon supplied with all he needed, for at least a few days. He would have to visit a hardware store afterward, but he would need to make a trip back to the shelter to store the stuff he had grabbed.

A familiar tingling sensation at the nape of his neck brought the now young vigilante to attention. The feeling preceded the opening of the sliding doors to the entrance of the store. Something bad was about to happen.

The men dressed in casual black clothing sped through the opening and zipped to the cash register, the firearms they carried being made blatantly obvious by the fact that the held them forward.

' _Three adult men h_ _olding up a convenience store?_ ' Bruce analyzed. ' _They must be desperate. If they aren't stopped, a fight will more than likely break out when they split the cash._ '

When the cashier attempted to diffuse the situation, one of the men raised his pistol and fired off a round at the ceiling. It was an improvisation on his part, one that caused his partners in crime to jump and whisper a few words of contempt toward him.

It was also then that Bruce heard a quiet whimper to his right.

A small, brown haired young woman in her early twenties stared straight ahead at the situation, making no movements, save for heavy shivering.

It must have been her first time witnessing a crime of this nature.

"Calm down." Bruce spoke quietly in her direction.

The woman barely pried her eyes off of the armed criminals to glance at her fellow shopper for a half second.

"Do you see that shelf to your left?" Bruce asked. A few slow moments later, she quickly glanced at the shelf before bringing her eyes back to the thieves and nodding. "On my cue, get behind it. Walk behind me so they won't see you."

The woman nodded wordlessly.

When all of the armed men were facing away, Bruce gave his cue. "Now." He half whispered. As the woman passed him, he could hear her heavy breathing. If he could repeat this process, he would decrease the amount of nearby civilians and take down the armed men without any casualties.

As he began to make his way to another group, something caught everyone off guard.

It was the sound of _laughter._

Deep voiced and slowly paced laughter. Almost comical sounding.

"It's fine now. Why? Because I am here!" The voice spoke.

Bruce had already recognized the voice the moment it emitted laughter. He had heard that same laugh from the popular debut video of the number one hero.

All Might.

A seven foot tall, muscular, blonde haired man wearing a white T-shirt and dark brown cargo pants came forward to the register, a smile plastered on his masculine face. In his right hand, he held a plastic bag full of groceries.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at the man. He had seen a skeletal figure wearing that same attire in the back of the store in the frozen foods section.

From the moment he appeared on the scene everyone's expressions brightened visibly. Hopeful cheers escaped from every onlooker around. Even the woman from behind the shelf had stopped shivering and smiled brightly at the number one hero.

This was the power of hope.

Bruce could recall a certain caped hero in metropolis having the same effect on people. Although, this hero was more over the top, but that only worked to increase this effect. No one saw a cheesy, dictionary definition of a super powered comic book character, they saw an unbeatable guardian who brought hope in droves with him everywhere he went. He was loved and admired by all with very few exception.

"All Might!"

"It's All Might!"

"We're saved!"

Cheers such as these followed him wherever put a stop to crimes.

He truly was the world's symbol of peace.

The three armed men had simply settled for dropping their firearms as they froze on the spot. They knew they could not escape. They knew that if they tried, they would immediately be captured. No matter what they would do, they would end up in a cell. Such a realization caused them all to shake in their boots.

The hero had scolded the crooks before sending them off to the police men who had arrived rather fast. The system was set up in a way to allow seamless work between the police and heroes. As a result, more police stations were built to keep up with the increasing amount of pro heroes.

Bruce almost didn't want to think of how the economy was impacted when society had begun to change.

"Young man!"

Bruce snapped to attention the moment the muscular form had come to a stop nearly a foot and a half away from him.

All Might laughed at the action. "You certainly are a vigilant person!"

Nodding, he stared back at the symbol of peace, waiting for him to continue with what he had to say.

"You have an abundance of bravery to be able to act in a situation like this one! Might I ask, are you striving to become a hero?" He questioned.

"Yes." Bruce replied, ignoring the fact that he had already been one for over two decades.

"Fantastic! The world is in need of more brave heroes!"

Before Bruce or All Might could continue their conversation, the latter was bombarded with cheerful individuals seeking autographs or a picture. One individual even asked for 'head pats' for some reason.

Settling for a group picture, someone set their phone to take one as they had all gathered together, All Might standing tall in the back as they huddled together. It was almost like magic how the number one hero could turn a traumatizing experience into a joyful and magical moment for everyone involved.

Noticing someone missing, the symbol of peace glanced all around the store for him, but Bruce had already left.

* * *

 **A/N: Here it is. Another short chapter. It was supposed to be bigger, but I had to cut out some stuff.**

 **I know some of you won't like Batman enrolling into U.A., but I'm pretty sure that's what Dal had planned, otherwise, why de-age Bruce? Either way, I have to revise this story a bit before it becomes satisfactory.**

 **Some reviewers were kind enough to send me ideas through private messaging. A lot of enthusiastic Batman fans out there, I guess.**

 **Welp, that's it for now. See ya.**


	4. Step One

_Greetings, Bruce._

 _We have reviewed the prototype and the blueprints you have sent us. It is truly revolutionary technology that could change the ways our oceans are explored forever. This kind of invention cannot only bring great joy to all of our ocean explorers, but it can also better humanity in its pursuit of growth and knowledge._

 _As for testing, we have several pro heroes stationed in the water who would be more than happy to test out this new tool._

 _However, before all else, we would like to discuss this matter in further detail in person with you._

 _\- Tanaka_

And that concluded the email Bruce had received in response to what only he himself referred to as 'Step one' of his plan. Shortly after receiving the email, he had agreed to a dinner invitation from one of the higher ups at the rather small company he initiated contact with, who by the way, was the same one who wrote the email.

It was at the luxurious restaurant that he noticed that the man he was doing business with wasn't alone. Two others whom he recognized as a small time pro hero and a relatively well known hero were seated next the him. Both were dressed casually however.

"Welcome, Wayne-san." Tanaka said.

Bruce bowed before seating himself. "No need to be so formal. You all can refer to me as 'Bruce'."

The men nodded in response, the stiff postures of the pro heroes not going unnoticed by Bruce. They were most likely not used to fancy places such as this one.

Now that he thought about it, Bruce must have seemed like a rich person considering how relaxed he was in such a setting. Regardless, at the moment, the fact remained that he was basically broke at the moment. Thankfully, this meal was courtesy of Tanaka's company, not Bruce himself.

Well, even if he lacked funding at the moment, that was about to change if this trip went well enough.

Movement to his right caused him to shift his focus to the waiter who was pouring wine in Tanaka's empty glass. Said waiter moved swiftly to fill every glass at that table, which was four. However, before the waiter could tip the bottle over the lip of Bruce's glass, he was stopped when Bruce raised a hand.

"I'll pass." He said.

One of the pro heroes chuckled before quirking a brow. "Not much of a drinker?" He asked, attempting to make the atmosphere less awkward.

"That, and I'm underage." Bruce revealed.

"What?!" The man replied loudly, soon noticing the surrounding people glaring at him for the volume of his voice. Clearing his throat, the man corrected his posture before focusing on Bruce again. "You look like you're twenty or something... no offense." He added, mumbling something about foreigners being amazing before taking a sip of his wine.

"None taken. I get that a lot."

"Well then." Tanaka said, reminding everyone why they were all there in the first place. "Bruce, our company has already decided to start production on your idea. The reason why we're here, however..."

"Is to discuss royalties." The former Wayne tech owner finished the man's sentence, his answer surprising him.

"You seem familiar with this kind of stuff." one of the heroes added.

Bruce nodded. "As for royalties, I'd be fine with just 25%."

Tanaka's eyes widened momentarily before he recomposed himself. "I know I shouldn't be saying this since I'm negotiating for my own company, but are you sure? I expected you to go for a higher number."

Nodding again, he replied. "I don't need more than that. With this kind of technology on the market, even 25% would be quite a lot of money."

"About that..." The man began. "Again, I shouldn't be saying this, but why us?" He asked. "There are larger companies than us out there. Any of the top ten largest could give your invention better attention than we could. You'd make a lot more money as well."

"You answered your own question." Bruce replied. Seeing the man quirk a brow, he elaborated. "Seeing as how you were willing to risk this business deal to provide me a better opportunity only confirmed my reasoning to partner with your company. I wasn't looking for a big name or anything like that. I need a company with integrity. I need someone I can trust. You can't find that higher up on the chain."

"So that was it. If that's the case, I can vouch for the integrity you saw."

Bruce nodded with a smile.

Soon after, the dinner carried on like every other business discussion he had been in. Only this time, Bruce struck a short-term partnership deal in which he would provide other inventions of interest to the small company.

Before long, the pro heroes were also brought into the discussion, agreeing to test the technology. One such test involved mapping out a little bit of the ocean floor to test its capabilities.

After several tests were run and improvements were made for mass production, the invention had the green light to hit the market.

Soon after, they had all finished eating and Bruce bade farewell before the four of them went their separate ways.

* * *

Returning from his room, Bruce made it back out onto the streets, toolbox in hand as he set out to his work place. Henry was a kind enough man to lend Bruce some of the old tools for temporary use. Though, maybe it was because he worked hard in the garage that he allowed it.

Once he completed part of his plan, he'd have to help out the garage as well. Henry and Philip were kind to him, giving him a job and helping him get off the streets. If possible, once funds weren't so tight, Bruce would have to approach them with a business deal of his own.

Then, a strange scent hit his nose.

' _smoke?_ '

"Fire!"

"Run! Get out of here!"

"Someone call the fire department!"

Depositing the toolbox in a bush at his side, Bruce sprinted at full speed toward the direction everyone was running away from.

Turning the corner, he saw something that was admittedly unsurprising.

Henry's Garage was now a blazing inferno, the sign was tattered and the windows were all shattered, fire spinning out of the openings like small tornadoes.

"Let go of me!" A familiar voice shouted. "My boy's still in there!" Henry fought against the two men who were struggling to keep him from getting himself killed.

Turning to his right, Bruce speed down the street, spinning on his heel before delivering a kick to the fire hydrant's valve with all of his momentum. Despite the sickening crunch that sounded out from his foot, he pressed onward, remaining composed. Backing away to the furthest part of the trail of water, he lowered himself underneath it, allowing his form to be covered by the cold water as his clothes and hair soaked it in.

Turning around, he stared at the fire ahead, a familiar scowl, once worn underneath the mask of a myth, found itself being donned again as he charged into the inferno ahead.

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter end, it was short, but boom I did it. You don't have to leave a single review on multiple accounts saying ' _Please update_ ', thinking that it will miraculously cause my brain's processing speed to increase or my fingers to move faster. If anything, it'll cause me to release an incomplete and unedited chapter like I did just now.  
**

 **Authors are people too. Even the crappy ones like me. We don't have all the time in the world to spend however we would like. I have tons of engagements and next to no time to do anything, so there's that, I suppose. But hey, maybe if you ask enough times, the universe will develop a game-like system in which it would grant me a skill that increases writing speed! But then you'll wake up and realize that it _doesn't work that way_. Or, maybe you could sit down and think for _two seconds_ , asking yourself. " _Does it actually do anything?_ " Then again, you might just post the review anyways for good measure, you know, just in case this really is a game. After all, it doesn't affect - _you-_ in anyway at all, so why not?  
**

 **Anyway, I don't know what that was. Maybe it was me _VENTING_ in some abstract way. My brain isn't in tip top shape. I can't operate like I used to, but that's just part of life, so it's inevitable.**

 **Welp. See ya. I have other things that need to be written, not just this story.**


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